Wu Маngmаng immеdiatelу sсrаmblеd uр from the sofа. Lu Sui sаw that her еyes nоw hеld а fiеrсе glint, like a fеrocious little leoраrd, just short оf baring shаrр сlаws to sсrаtсh his nесk.
"I heаrd you talking оn thе phоne with someоne abоut holding a wеdding in Sерtеmbеr," Wu Маngmang insisted, trуing tо prоvе shе hadn’t bеen оvеrthinking things.
Lu Sui stood uр аnd put аway the hаirdryer, frowning slightlу. "I rеаlly сan’t recаll suсh а thing. Arе уоu surе I wаs tаlking abоut а wedding bеtweеn you аnd me? Ноw сomе I dоn’t еvеn know about it?"
Wu Мangmang was taken аback. Althоugh she had сaught frаgmеnts of thе conversation, she couldn’t say with absolute certainty that Lu Sui had been referring to their own wedding.
With a wave of her hand, she said, "I can’t be bothered to argue about this anymore. It’s pointless anyway. Since you don’t want to marry me, and I don’t want to marry you either, that’s perfect. Let’s not waste each other’s time."
After speaking, Wu Mangmang ruffled her hair a couple of times and reached for her bag, ready to leave.
But Lu Sui was quicker, snatching her bag away before she could grab it. "Let’s talk."
Wu Mangmang shook her head. She felt tangled up inside herself—terrified of becoming Mrs. Lu, yet feeling both sour and angry upon hearing that Lu Sui had no intention of proposing. Right now, she just wanted to cry and had no desire to deal with Lu Sui.
"If you like my bag so much, you can have it," Wu Mangmang said, figuring that as long as her phone was in her pocket, everything else was manageable.
She walked to the door and tried several times to open it, only to realize that Lu Sui had locked it from the inside with a key.
This man was truly cunning—it seemed he had already decided not to let her leave.
Wu Mangmang had a sinking feeling, like a lamb walking into a lion’s den.
"Sit down, Mangmang. Let’s talk," Lu Sui said, patting the sofa beside him.
Wu Mangmang felt like a lonely clown, with Lu Sui sitting quietly on the sofa watching her as if he were her audience. She wondered if she had managed to amuse him.
"I’ve already talked to you. We’re not compatible. Please let me go," Wu Mangmang said, her back pressed against the door, keeping the maximum distance between them.
"Rejecting me without reason isn’t talking," Lu Sui replied. "I don’t have much time to keep dragging this out, Mangmang. Let’s talk today. Whatever the outcome, I promise I won’t bother you again. How does that sound?"
The offer was too tempting. Wu Mangmang had no choice but to nod, slowly shuffling over to sit beside Lu Sui, though she still kept a person’s width of distance between them.
Lu Sui poured her a glass of water. "Is the pressure of being with me too much?" Wu Mangmang held the cup without speaking, simply nodding.
"If we don’t get married and just date, would that ease the pressure a bit?" Lu Sui asked.
Wu Mangmang didn’t understand what he meant.
"Mangmang, I think you might have misunderstood me," Lu Sui said. "I don’t need a wife. If I really did, both you and I know I wouldn’t have waited until now, and it wouldn’t be you."
That was hardly a compliment. Wu Mangmang struggled to suppress the hurt she felt, keeping her expression stiff and silent.
"Because I have feelings for you, I’d like to try dating. If it works out, we stay together; if not, we go our separate ways," Lu Sui added.
"Then let’s go our separate ways," Wu Mangmang couldn’t help but retort sarcastically.“But last time at Dongshan, I realized I still have feelings for you, so I wanted to give it another try,” Lu Sui said.
Feelings, my foot?!
“Why should I try with you? I’m looking for someone to marry, I told you that long ago,” Wu Mangmang was about to explode.
“Are you sure?” Lu Sui asked calmly.
Wu Mangmang turned her eyes away, unwilling to meet his gaze, but he reached out and tilted her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
“Among the people you’ve dated before, there were those who proposed to you, weren’t there?” Lu Sui asked.
The Wu family was quite well-off, and Wu Mangmang was a great beauty. Although her personality was a bit odd, she was mostly obedient and gentle, so there were plenty of people who wanted to rush into marriage with her.
Wu Mangmang slapped his hand away. “You investigated me?” Among the boyfriends she had dumped, of course, some had proposed to her. Rushing into marriage wasn’t anything rare, but each time, she either fled in terror or overacted out of fear, none of which ended well.
For her, fear of marriage seemed like a natural thing.
Lu Sui calmly withdrew his hand. “You don’t want to get married, and I’m not forcing you to.”
In fact, it was only after breaking up and reflecting on things that Wu Mangmang admitted she was more or less scared off by the impending marriage.
Even though Lu Sui denied it now, Wu Mangmang knew deep down that if Lu Sui wasn’t serious about her, Lu Jianan wouldn’t have appeared, and she wouldn’t have had the chance to attend the Lu family’s Spring Festival gathering—that was clearly treatment reserved for family.
Was Lu Sui promising her now that he wouldn’t bind her with marriage?
Wu Mangmang looked at Lu Sui and said, “I don’t understand. Why me?”
When she asked this, she had expected Lu Sui to brush her off casually, but instead, he simply looked into her eyes and said, “Because I like you.”
It was truly rare to hear the word “like” from Lu Sui.
Perhaps other girls would think “like” wasn’t enough, but for Wu Mangmang, “like” was just right.
Feelings were too vague, love was too heavy—just a little liking was enough.
No love lasts forever. What was once unforgettable has now dried up, hasn’t it?
It was just a shame that Wu Mangmang had already passed the stage where she needed borrowed love to keep warm. Otherwise, Lu Sui might have actually moved her.
“Sorry, but the person I want isn’t you.” This was something Wu Mangmang felt she saw clearly.
Lu Sui was tempting her to start over, but Wu Mangmang still saw all sorts of tactics in him.
First, he started with the people around her, “winning over” Zeng Ruling and Dai Tingting.
Then came the tactic of playing hard to get by leaving—though it might have been a real business trip, there was definitely some element of keeping her waiting. Not contacting her for half a month and then showing up directly—this was a tactic Wu Mangmang had seen in plenty of novels she read with Zeng Ruling.
Now he was delivering an ultimatum, all while pretending to have a heart-to-heart talk. What a nice thought!
Wu Mangmang stood up. “I’m leaving.”
Lu Sui’s face darkened almost to the point of raining. “I’ll see you out.”
Wu Mangmang took her bag from his hand. “No need. And don’t waste any more time on me. I’ll be staying in City A from now on, so we won’t have many chances to meet in the future. I wish you happiness.”Lu Sui did not insist on seeing Wu Mangmang downstairs.
The evening breeze in mid-March was no longer too chilly. Wu Mangmang tucked her hands into her coat pockets, shrinking her neck slightly as the wind blew through the stairwell. When she reached the ground floor, she looked up at the sixth-floor window, unable to see clearly whether anyone was standing by it. She thought to herself that she would surely be scolded by Zeng Ruling again for being foolish when she returned to the dorm.
The next day, as Wu Mangmang went downstairs, her eyes scanned the surroundings but found no sign of Lu Sui. She thought to herself that Mr. Lu was indeed a busy man—it must have been quite rare for him to spare a whole week of his precious time for her recently.
Zeng Ruling nudged Wu Mangmang’s shoulder. “Looking for someone?”
“No one,” Wu Mangmang replied.
“With that look of loneliness on your face? Who are you trying to fool?” Zeng Ruling said. “You brought this on yourself, didn’t you? Yesterday, Mr. Lu asked me about you. He went to the hotpot restaurant to find you, right? When you didn’t come back so late, I thought you wouldn’t return last night.”
Wu Mangmang remained silent.
Zeng Ruling took out her phone, found Lu Sui’s number, and handed it to Wu Mangmang. “Here, take it. If you miss him, just call him. Although girls should maintain some pride, don’t set it too high—be careful not to let the whole plate tip over.”
Wu Mangmang shook her head.
Zeng Ruling was exasperated. “Fine, Wu Mangmang, don’t regret it later. And don’t cry out someone else’s name in the middle of the night again.”
Wu Mangmang flushed with embarrassment at Zeng Ruling’s words, stubbornly retorting, “When have I ever cried myself awake in the middle of the night?”
“Haven’t you? If you don’t believe me, ask Tingting. You even called out Lu Sui’s name in your sleep,” Zeng Ruling said.
“That’s impossible!” Wu Mangmang widened her eyes in disbelief.
“Why not? Otherwise, do you think I’m the kind of person who can be bought off with just one meal of KFC?” Zeng Ruling shouted.
Dai Tingting tugged at Zeng Ruling’s sleeve, signaling her not to escalate the situation.
Zeng Ruling brushed off Dai Tingting’s hand and gave her a reassuring look.
By now, she had come to understand Wu Mangmang’s character. Despite her stunning looks and cool demeanor—a typical goddess-like figure—once you got to know her, you’d realize she had an exceptionally good temper toward those she cared about, enduring almost anything.
Wu Mangmang bit her lip. So that was why Zeng Ruling had switched sides so quickly—there was more to it than she had thought.
But had she really called out Lu Sui’s name in her dreams in the middle of the night?
That evening, Wu Mangmang had an elective class. The teacher was humorous and witty, delivering exceptionally engaging lectures. His class was notoriously difficult to get into, and Wu Mangmang had been incredibly lucky to secure a spot. If she arrived even slightly late, she would have to stand at the back of the classroom.
Wu Mangmang went to the classroom right after dinner, but her classmates were growing more and more competitive each week. It was said that some had already been sitting in the classroom since five o’clock today. In this class, leaving a notebook or something similar to reserve a seat would only result in it being tossed aside in minutes.
In the past, Guo Xuefeng had always saved a seat for her in this class, and Wu Mangmang had never worried about it. But these past few weeks had been a real struggle for her.
The classroom was packed with people, with no empty seats in sight. Wu Mangmang’s phone vibrated. She took it out and saw a message: “Come to the front.”
As she descended the steps, Wu Mangmang spotted Lu Sui sitting in the middle of the third row.Mr. Lu's demeanor—coming to save a seat at his age and with his imposing presence—was rather comical. Wu Mangmang couldn't help but laugh. However, the girl sitting to his left was being a bit too enthusiastic and forward, wasn't she?
These days, girls really have become liberated—so bold and fierce. Of course, you couldn’t blame them. In big cities, there were always more leftover women, and to avoid being left behind, it was best to seize opportunities while young and market themselves well.
Wu Mangmang kept saying "sorry" as she squeezed her way to sit next to Lu Sui.
"What are you doing here?" Wu Mangmang asked.
"I came to see your university’s most popular teacher," Lu Sui replied.
"Didn’t you say that after our talk yesterday, regardless of the outcome, you wouldn’t bother me anymore?" Wu Mangmang said stubbornly and pretentiously.
"Is this me bothering you? Clearly, you’re the one bothering me," Lu Sui said, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he glanced at the girl beside him.
Wu Mangmang leaned forward to take a closer look at the girl. No wonder she dared to be so forward—she was truly beautiful and very young.
"Well, I really am bothering you then. I’ll leave," Wu Mangmang said, pretending to stand up.
Lu Sui grabbed her hand. "Wu Mangmang, do you know when to stop pushing your luck?"
Wu Mangmang pouted and stared at Lu Sui without speaking.
"All the things I never did during my university days, I’ve done them all with you," Lu Sui said with a bitter smile.
"Don’t make it sound so sentimental. You’re just trying to relive your youth through me," Wu Mangmang retorted, refusing to fall for his tactic. "Besides, you haven’t done everything yet. You haven’t helped me fetch hot water."
"Fine, I’ll help you fetch it tonight, okay?" Lu Sui said.
Although the teacher’s lecture was excellent, after two classes totaling ninety minutes, Wu Mangmang seemed not to have absorbed a single word. She was too busy watching Lu Sui’s hands.
His hands were slender and elegant, and his handwriting was beautiful. It was said that Mr. Lu had practiced calligraphy for over a decade as a child. For those ninety minutes, those hands were dedicated to taking lecture notes for Wu Mangmang.
After class, Wu Mangmang cheekily said to Lu Sui, "Do you feel like your life is now complete? Only by being with me have you experienced all the things you missed in university."
"Something like that," Lu Sui replied.
"How does it feel?" Wu Mangmang asked.
"It feels like a goddess who was so hard to chase must be cherished and treasured," Lu Sui said.
Wu Mangmang scoffed and lifted her chin. "Who said you’ve caught me?"
That statement was truly pretentious.
Lu Sui ignored her stubbornness. "Can you join me for dinner?"
"Haven’t you eaten yet?" Wu Mangmang asked before realizing how silly her question was. If Lu Sui had managed to save such a seat, how could he have had dinner already?
There was one particularly bad habit girls had.
When a guy was pursuing them, they would push him to the limit, treating him as less than human. But once they were caught, they would start feeling sorry for their own man. Wu Mangmang was no exception to this cliché.
While sitting in the congee shop, Wu Mangmang received a WeChat message from Ning Zheng.
"Did Lu Sui save a seat for you?"Wu Mangmang was only surprised for half a second before she guessed the whole story. She secretly glanced at Lu Sui, who was looking at the menu, and replied to Ning Zheng with a single word: "Yeah."
Ning Zheng stared at that "Yeah" for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said to the bartender, "Send a drink to everyone here. It's on me."
Shen Ting asked, "What's going on?"
Ning Zheng chuckled and cursed, "I never thought Lu Sui would have a day like this. Really eye-opening."
Shen Ting raised an eyebrow.
"He called me today asking for advice on how to chase women. Can you believe it? He actually asked me to teach him how to pursue the woman I like. Does he have any humanity left?" Ning Zheng said.
"What did you teach him?" Shen Ting asked.
"Four-word mantra: Persistence pays off." Ning Zheng held up four fingers.
Speaking of which, persistence is definitely the top strategy among the thirty-six ways to pursue a woman. The movie 101st Proposal taught us that as long as you persist, even an ordinary guy can win over a goddess.
As for Wu Mangmang and Lu Sui, last night it seemed like an unsolvable deadlock. Wu Mangmang had already sentenced Lu Sui to failure.
Last night, she truly felt they couldn't be together. But when she woke up this morning and didn't see Lu Sui, thinking he must have given up, she felt sad again. She thought Lu Sui didn't really like her as much as he claimed—otherwise, why would he give up so easily?
It seemed her rejection last night was completely justified. What was the point of giving such an unserious man another chance?
But now, looking at Lu Sui, Wu Mangmang's thoughts changed. She began to think that maybe Lu Sui really did like her—a lot.
Women are such fickle emotional creatures. A little bit of genuine affection can pierce through their soft hearts.
Her phone vibrated again. Ning Zheng asked her, "Did you take a photo? Let me tell you, a photo like that could be auctioned for at least a million."
Wu Mangmang stole another glance at Lu Sui across from her and replied, "What a shame, I didn't. I'll definitely remember next time."
"There'll be a next time?" Ning Zheng suddenly felt a bit sorry for Lu Sui.
Before Wu Mangmang could finish typing her reply, she saw Lu Sui put down the menu and look over. Guiltily, she hid her phone in her coat pocket.
"It's fine. You can reply if you have messages," Lu Sui said.
Wu Mangmang looked at Lu Sui, feeling a bit unaccustomed to him being so approachable about her phone.
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